Coos County Circuit Judge Michael Gillespie entered not guilty pleas on behalf of Mark Santos, left, and Marvin Terry Jr., Tuesday morning. The two have been accused of taking the “Charlie the Tuna” wooden sculpture in Charleston and charged with first-degree theft and second-degree criminal mischief. Both have were assigned court-appointed attorneys for their next court date.-World Photo by Lou Sennick

COQUILLE — They’ve already apologized to its keeper. And Tuesday, the two young men involved in the dismemberment of one large wooden fish went to the Coos County Courthouse to face a judge and arraignment on criminal mischief charges.

Mark Santos, 21, and Marvin Terry Jr., 20, appeared before Judge Michael Gillespie. Both are charged with second-degree criminal mischief. The class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in jail and a $6,250 fine.  The judge entered not-guilty pleas for the two, who are scheduled to appear in court for a change of plea hearing at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 2.

The Coos Bay men’s charges stem from the May theft of the Charlie the Tuna statue that once sat on east side of the South Slough Bridge, where it welcomed people to Charleston. Coos County Sheriff’s deputies found two men chopping the 8-foot tall blue tuna statue in the Daniel’s Creek area on June 6 and subsequently arrested suspects Santos and Terry.

Several days later, the roommates wrote a letter of apology published in The World, explaining the incident was a prank gone wrong. In the letter, they said someone found Charlie. In a panic, they tried, unsuccessfully, to move the statue from its hiding place and instead chose to chop him up. Santos also apologized to Mel Campbell, a Charleston Merchants Association member.

Campbell did not attend Tuesday’s hearing.

According to an indictment charging the defendants, on or about June 6, they unlawfully and intentionally damaged the wood statue, which belonged to the community of Charleston. Coos County Sheriff’s Office deputies recovered the statue, but only after it was cut into pieces with a chainsaw.

During the hearing, the men showed a lack of understanding about the court process, which drove Gillespie to explain to them why they might need an attorney. He then assigned them separate counsel.

Defense attorney Megan Jacquot will represent Terry and an attorney from the Southwestern Oregon Public Defenders Services Inc. in Coos Bay will defend Santos.

Despite jokes from the judge, who warned them to “Stay away from wooden statues,” Santos and Terry didn’t seem to find the situation humorous.

“It’s not really funny at all,” Santos told Gillespie.

After the hearing, Santos explained the prank lost its charm when they had to cut it up.

“It just got out of our hands,” he said.